5 comments about The Universe and Dr. Einstein.

1. This is absolutely the best book on any scientific topic intended for the general reader that I have ever read. It is one of very few books about science I have ever read that I could seriously call a "page turner". Einstein's theories are presented in such a manner that anyone reading the book can understand the concepts without trying. I have read other books that discussed Einstein's theories, but none of them presented the ideas with such lucidity and simplicity, while at the same time not losing the depth and profundity of the concepts.



2. I feel that this book is a must for any home library. If you are experienced in physics, this book is extremely interesting because it delves deaply into the philosophy that brought Dr. Einstein to his great accomplishments. For those that have little knowledge of relativity, the universe, and quantum matters it offers a great introduction with a minimum of complex math. A simple way to understand how Dr. Einstein changed the entire universe. I have studied Albert for years. This is the first time I have read anything that gave me such an insight to his personality and thought processes. HONESTLY, the best book I have ever read.



3. Mr. Barnett, a journalist, crossed over into the arena of science, a subject that he had not studied in college. And to the world's amazement, he captured on paper a clear and easy to read explanation of the genius and elegance of Dr. Einstein's theories concerning the very small (quanta) and the very large (space and time).



4. Suppose all matter in the universe is expanding at a uniform rate and that "gravity" doesn't exist. Also imagine standing atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa and releasing two cannon balls. One weighs one ounce and the other ten pounds. Because the earth is rushing up to meet the balls, both seem to fall to the ground at the same rate. A cannon ball fired into the air seems to follow a curved trajectory back to the earth as the ground rushes up to meet it. A comet passing close to the earth seems to be "attracted" to the earth as we are pushed upwards towards it. Einstein says "gravity" is the effect on the path of a moving object caused by distortions in the geometric structure of the space-time continuum caused by mass. But space is "nothing," so how can "nothing" be distorted? Could the earth and all matter be expanding uniformly and unnoticed by us? Could this expansion be the real cause of what we call "gravity" and not the distortion of "nothing"?
   
   This problem, somewhat simplified here, has been bothering me since I first read this book some forty years ago; if anybody can help enlighten me on this, I'd be glad to hear from you!



5. Who would believe that a book on the Theory of Relativity could be written for the masses? Well it was, and this is it. The concepts that the book conveys are mind boggling, yet quite understandable at the same time. You'll never view space, time and the world around you the same again. It's a quick read, but as you'll learn, time is relative.

5 comments about Relativity and Common Sense.

1. Bondi has a very novel and easy to follow approach to deriving time dilation. He uses a handful of travellers / observers moving relative to each other at subluminal speeds sending light pulses to each other. Unfortunately his derivation would just as well work and 'prove' time dilation if subsonic travelers were sending sound signals to each other.

   Time dilation at one milionth of the speed of light? That would regarded ludicrous even by the most fervent believer in Einsteins 2nd postulate for Special Relativity (SR).

   The author just takes the 2nd postulate for granted without even saying so, much less any justification for that counterintuitive assumption.

   The book, like unfortunately many others about SR or GR, requires this leap of faith on the part of the reader, although very well hidden in this case. Not that he intends to deceive, the author apparently never questioned his own leap of faith. In other words, he does not apply the 'common sense' that the title promises.




2. There's no doubting Bondi's credentials or the potentiality of his thesis on the common-sense derivation of special relativity from Newtonian physics, but Bondi fails on two basic fronts:

   1) The bulk of his presentation relies on a cumbersome supposition (graphical and otherwise) involving several characters moving through space and time to prove that time is a route-dependent quantity. If the reader wants to truly understand Bondi's theory, he or she should plan to sit down with a chalk board or a paper and pen in order to keep the character's names and their travels straight.

   2) The basis for the presentation is so tedious that eventually one reaches the point of sensory overload and, as a result, ends up accepting the conceptual foundation of Bondi's theory as is -- which is no different than taking Einstein's special theory of relativity at face value. In other words, for this reader, Bondi fails to convincingly derive special relativity from Newtonian physics.




3. The basic theme of this book about relativity and common sense is so far stretched that one could call this a con job. Like the editor must have warned Bondi to stay away from equations so as not to turn off the average potential reader thumbing the pages, but we have pages and pages of mental figuring with three characters with individual names to boot.

   Where he is really caught is in a diagram that is supposed to indicate the obviousness of a 30 degree rotation around the origin. Here 1/2 and the square root of 3 divided by 2 manage to show up, with absolutely no explanation at all. Apparaently he was afraid to say sin(30) = 1/2. Thus somebody who really did not know that would have absolutely no clue about how this self-evident diagram really worked!

   Thus, as I say, it is con job. A preposterous attempt to link relativity and common sense, like everybody should think in microseconds of light, not feet. (Just try to explain to some youngster how a 8.5 x 11 inch paper is in fractions of a microsecond.) Anything else to Bondi being "degenerate" thinking. I guess he manged to fool even himself.

   Yet, he does have his own way of looking at it, so if the subject of relativity usually results in drawing a blank sooner or later, well, this approach has a certain merit as a novel way of approaching the subject. It is possible to learn something from him.




4. This is one of the first books which use common sense approach to the understanding of special theory of relativity using illustrations, drawings and diagrams. At one time this theory was considered mysterious, which is in fact obvious and clear-cut extension of ordinary ideas to the realm of high velocities. The author first presents Newtonian ideas followed by the concept and characteristic effects of special relativity in a non mathematical language. Then he introduces Lorentz Transformation (LT) in chapter 10, which involves systems of coordinates moving relative to each other and then uses LT to establish the basics of the theory. Readers with very limited mathematical background should have no trouble in understanding the elementary aspects of the relativity. This is a cute little book (177 pages, size 7.92'' x 5.36"), which is classified into three parts. The first part introduces the classical mechanics; concepts of force, momentum, angular momentum, velocity of light and uniqueness of light. The second part deals with the peculiarities of high speeds, relationship of inertial (uniformly moving, constant velocity) and moving observers and the need for theory of relativity to understand high speed situation and a brief introduction to Lorentz Transformation. The final part discusses the consequences of traveling faster than light, acceleration (non-inertial motion) and high velocities on mass. Chapters 8 and 9 are crucial to the common sense approach to the understanding of relativity. The reader may need time and patience to read these two chapters to understand relativity. Chapter 11 discusses some interesting consequences of special relativity; for travels faster than light there is no link between cause and effect, in other words that effect could precede cause. This book is very affordable and useful; I encourage the reader to consider adding this book to his/her personal library.



5. Previous reviewers who rated this book less than four stars have simply misunderstood the purpose of this book. It uses a novel approach to present the special theory of relativity to an audience of non-physicists who are not afraid of a few - very few - equations, as in the proverbial "educated high school graduate." Hence Bondi uses numerical examples to avoid many equations. The book is not meant to be a college textbook or complete treatise on relativity!
   
   Bondi's approach makes relativity seem almost obvious. The earlier chapters, which some felt were irrelevant, are designed to contrast sound with light, which may be more familiar, or at least less surprising. There is a lot of physics in this book
   
   Some may be misled by a statement in John Durston's preface: "Professor Bondi derives Relativity from Newtonian ideas." One cannot derive relativity from Newtonian mechanics. But Newtonian concepts can be used to advantage.
   
   My only caveat is that there are several unfortunate typos, especially Eq. (20) on page 123.

1 comments about The Invisible Universe: Dark Matter and Dark Energy (Lecture Notes in Physics).

1. The contributors to the book lay out a persuasive case for the existence of Dark Matter. It was first postulated to account for the missing matter in galaxies. The luminous [visible] portions of various galaxies seemed to be insufficient to account for the stability of spiral arms. Since then, other evidence, both observational and theoretical, has been gathered. And summarised here.
   
   Some chapters offer exotic explanations of the nature of Dark Matter and energy. Superstrings on a cosmological scale, perhaps?
   
   For physics students, a good way to see the best current ideas on the subject.

No comments about Einstein's General Theory of Relativity: With Modern Applications in Cosmology.

4 comments about Encounters with Einstein.

1. This is an excellent bedside book for anyone interested in the development of quantum mechanics by one of its primary discoverers. This small book of short essays provides insight into the life and personality of one of the greatest (and most enigmatic) physicists of the 20th century. This is not a technical book, nor is it an introduction to (or explaination of) quantum theory. Rather, each essay provides a unique sidebar on a variety of topics to which WH has either contributed directly or considered in detail. Heisenberg is a lucid and concise writer of remarkable insight.



2. This book reminds me a great deal of, "A Mathematician's Apology" by Hardy. Like Hardy, Heisenberg is in his last years, and knows that his productive ones are behind him. Therefore, he puts forward a series of essays and lectures that are a retrospective of his activity in physics as well as some philosophical thoughts concerning where he believes it is going.
   Heisenberg was a Nobel prize winner and the first enunciator of the uncertainty principle that bears his name. For these reasons, his thoughts on some of the consequences of the principle are well worth reading. However, Heisenberg is also known for other, more dark reasons. He was the director of the German atomic projects in World War II and seemed to have little difficulty in working under the Nazi tyranny while many of his colleagues were hounded and executed. He also proved to be an effective survivor, becoming the head of the Max Planck Institute of Physics in West Germany after the war.
   This involvement with the Nazis makes the chapter "Encounters and Conversations with Albert Einstein" fascinating reading. From it, you would not know about his record of collaboration with the regime that tried to exterminate Einstein and his ideas. One must read that chapter very carefully and do a great deal of reading between the lines to really understand what is being said. The fact that Einstein was willing to meet with Heisenberg after the war tells a lot more about Einstein that it does about Heisenberg.
   This book is interesting as much for what is not said as it is for what is said. This was an opportunity for Heisenberg to say something about his involvement in some very bad things as well as to put forward thoughts about physics. The first was missed and the second was a hit. If you are interested in some thoughts about how physics has evolved this century from one of best practitioners, then this is a book that will interest you.



3. These essays were first published by Seabury Press in 1983 under the title Tradition in Science. A new edition, titled Encounters with Einstein And Other Essays on People, Places, and Particles, was published in 1989 by Princeton University Press.

   Throughout his life Werner Heisenberg shared his enthusiasm for physics and philosophy, frequently giving presentations to general audiences. Several essays address the history of quantum physics. Others are more technical and include topics like cosmic radiation, particle physics, and closed-theories in physics. All essays are well-crafted and should be accessible to a wide audience.

   Heisenberg only met Einstein on a few occasions. The title essay, Encounters with Einstein, describes these encounters, including a final meeting at Princeton a few months before Einstein's death. While he admitted that he had never discussed politics with Einstein, Heisenberg did comment on Einstein's pacifism. Heisenberg does not discuss his own beliefs, nor his role in WWII Germany.

   At several points in this collection Heisenberg expresses his concerns with the theoretical direction that particle physics was taking in the early 1970s. In his essay "What is an Elementary Particle?", he expresses his doubts regarding quark theory. It was interesting to see Heisenberg in one essay lamenting Einstein's reluctance to accept quantum theory while elsewhere he himself was having difficulty with quark theory.

   I highly recommend these essays for any reader wishing to become more acquainted with Heisenberg. Also, as a follow-up I suggest reading Philosophical Problems of Quantum Physics, a collection of Heisenberg's lectures that span 1932-1948.

   The more persistent reader might be interested in Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. This work by Heisenberg is more philosophical and requires careful reading. This volume benefits from a lengthy and scholarly overview by F. S. C. Northrop, Sterling Professor of Philosophy and Law, Yale University.




4. This is one of the most fluent book written over modern physics even for the non-physicist. His ideas on scientific tradition and scientific prejudice is quite striking. Definitely recommended. This is one book which I wished to be thicker...

5 comments about Introducing Einstein's Relativity.

1. This is without any doubt the best book one can use for starting with GR: it is self contained, well written and moreover it is full of Physical insight. In brief: a great book. Even the introductory mathematical part (about tensor calculus) is great written: not too short and not too long. If one would like to gain an additional point of view about tensor calculus I'd recommend to compare the way followed by R. d'Inverno with that followed by Richtmyer "Principles of advanced mathematical Physics" vol 2 (the last all done in geodesic coordinates: this is a book on maths and not about GR!!). The level of Ray d'Inverno is at advanced undergraduate/1st year graduate: in fact one can find a lot of well discussed topics that are generally left out in other books on the subject. Of course this is not an advanced text like R. Wald or Hawking-Ellis, which are the right books if one wants to get a deeper insight in particular topics. The only fundamental thing R. d'Inverno lacks to treat in a fully way is the form of the Energy of the Gravitational field in GR and its related problems: no specific discussion about it. I think this is an important topic. A valuable (and probably the best) discussion about the latter can be found in L.D.Landau "Field Theory" book, or even in Sean Carroll "Spacetime and Geometry" book (a very good one, my favourite together with Landau and Ray d'Inverno), or you can also have a look about it into P. Dirac or Weinberg.



2. This is an excellent book. But I have seen a 1996 edition of it, not described above.



3. D'Inverno presents all the prerequisite maths needed for GR perfectly. The book is presented perfectly and at the appropriate introductory level for someone who has already done special relativity and wants to jump into GR but doesnt know what a tensor is. There definitly is no better introduction to GR in existence. The exercises at the end of each chapter are brilliant as well. Usually I dont do exercises as they take too long but D'Invernos exercises are a must do. You learn soo much from them and they are more easy than hard. Most books at this level give exercises which are too hard or not that important to understanding the next few chapters. But D'Invernos exercises are perfect especially the ones on the chapters about the maths needed for GR.
   After introducing GR he does stuff on black holes, worm holes, gravitational waves and cosmology.
   
   The only problems with the book are that in the first section of the book he does an introduction to special relativity for those who have never seen it before. It is a very bad intro to special relativity. For the best intro to special rel. one needs to consult "University Physics" by "Young and Fredman".
   But for those who have already done SR, d'invernos intro to SR is new and interesting as a method if a bit too difficult and mathematical.
   Also I would be a bit critical of the fact that after explaining the geometrical structure of GR perfectly he does not even mention how this view of gravity as a force is not exactly "combinable" with the particle physics view of gravity as a force communicated by a graviton. Just a small thought which I think is important. (Weinberg introduces GR by another method which does not use the mathematical geometrical structure throughout as he considers it "overemphasized" and a bit "misleading")
   Wienbergs "General relativity and cosmology" should be the readers next port of call after D'inverno



4. This was one of the books assigned when I took general relativity in college. I found several of the chapters very enjoyable to read. D'Inverno does a great job getting into some of the fascinating physics that lies behind general relativity and its development, like Mach's principles and a great discussion of the equivalence principle. Much of the book is devoted to teaching you the mathematics, and it does so in a good fashion. He has two nice chapters on tensors with homework problems that are doable. One drawback was the book didn't have anything on Cartan's equations or discuss one forms (although he talks about contravariant and covariant vectors). The first half of the book is better than the second half, I found his chapters on special relativity excellent but felt his chapters on black holes and gravity waves were a bit lacking. In any case, I recommend it. Try beefing up your education by reading it along with Schutz so you get some exposure to one forms and all that.



5. This text is well written. It is less well-known than it deserves to be, as it now has many competitors. Needless to say, it deserves attention by the serious student and professors alike.This marvelous resource should not be collecting dust on anyone's bookshelf.

No comments about Mach's Principle and the Origin of Inertia.

5 comments about Quantum Mechanics: Classical Results, Modern Systems, and Visualized Examples.

1. This is only intro level quantum mechanics book that I have seen that really makes an attempt to get to the heart of the matter of quantum mechanics and its connections to classical physics. The notion of breaking the subject down by dimensionality of the problems is certainly unique and creative. The book covers a wide range of topics ranging from quantum gravity to chaos. Derivations are presented in a clear and readable way. Moreover, the problems are really fun and interesting. My ONLY reservation is that what *I* really like about the book, first time students would probably hate! However, for a course aimed at theoretical students in physics or in chemistry, this would be a hit.



2. We used this book in my undergrad quantum class, and not a single student ever had anything good to say about this book. The entire semester was a complete haze. Griffiths writes a beatiful intro QM text.



3. Robinett's book is a comprehensive is somewhat mathematical treatment of the fundamental aspects of this fascinating subject.

   Among the things most pleasing about the book are:
   1. A constant connection with classical physics principles;
   2. An early introduction to and development of the wave packet and operators and a physical interpretation of Schrodinger's equation;
   3. A comprehensive discussion of various QM models in both their mathematical and physical aspects: the infinite well and other 1-D potentials, SHO, scattering;
   4. Two-D and Three-D QM and the development of the Hydrogen atom;
   5. Development of Gravity and QM;
   6. An abundance of examples, many based on experimental results for the student to try out.

   The mathematics is clear, and unlike many other books, the author takes the trouble to present many of the intermediate steps. I should say, however, that there are quite a few TYPOS sprinkled throughout the text. They are only a minor distraction and if anything, finding and fixing them can be a useful learning experience! My criticsm would be that the sections on the physical and mathematical development of Spin is too short. Indeed, the Stern-Gerlach and associated gedanken experiments which are so fundamental to an understanding of the postulates of QM do not get much of a mention.

   Having said this, the book is certainly a good introduction to the subject. It complements other traditional texts like French and Taylor quite well.




4. Bought this book to assist me in the introductory level of Q.M. What a waste! Couldn't understand much of it and I already have a BS degree with over 2years of college math. This is defintely an intermediate to upper level Q.M book even though its said to be an undergrad. I wish that some of the people that give these reviews would mention the level their basing their opinion on. The reviews when I bought this book were very good but it must have been from graduates or such.



5. I have been much impressed by Robinett's introduction to quantum mechanics. He seriously attempts to teach the principles of the subject, and does so with considerable effect. His quasi-derivation of the Schroedinger equation is notable.
   
   I have used this twice in introductory quantum mechanics courses. Some students were vocal in their dislike of the book. However they seemed to have learned quite a bit from it. Given the adverse comments to be found about all other books in physics on Amazon the negative comments inspire contempt rather than respect. If Robinett errs, it is in attempting to teach Qm rather than in pounding formulae into students.

2 comments about At Home in the Universe (Masters of Modern Physics).

1. John A. Wheeler is not only of the world's leading physicists but he is a great teacher. Besides writing an excellent popular introduction to Relativity theory "Gravity And Spacetime" he is co-writer of the most popular academic work on General Relativity "Gravitation" and also of a superb textbook introducing undergraduates to Special Relativity "Spacetime Physics". Both Professor's Wheeler popular works and text books are clear, user friendly expositions of Relativity Theory. So it was with great anticipation that I started Wheeler's collections of essays "At Home In The Universe".

   Unfortunately many of the essays are directed at the professional scientist and are beyond the level of even the well read amateur. Reading some of Professor Wheeler's discussions of the philosophy of science is like being thrown into a discussion being conducted by people who have known each other for a very long time and have developed a special language. For instance, "With a slight rewording of Bohr's formulation, we say, `The use of certain concepts in the description of nature automatically excludes the use of other concepts, which however, in another connection are equally necessary for the description of the phenomenon.'"

   There are some gems in this book, though. John A. Wheeler seems to have personally known every great scientist of the Twentieth Century: Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, Andrei Sakharov, Kurt Godel, John von Neumann, Steven Weinberg. His comments on them and their work are invaluable.

   Wheeler also has some interesting comments on the risks of a nuclear energy. One does not need to accept his optimistic viewpoint in order to appreciate his insight.

   "At Home In The Universe" is really two books: one for the professional scientist and another for the general public. If the volume was separated, we would have two excellent books instead of a single disappointing one.




2. John Archibald Wheeler is one of the landmark physicists of the 20th century. He has served as mentor to Richard Feynman, Kip Thorne and Hugh Everett (among others). He made significant contributions on the production of the A-bomb in WWII and also headed up the US efforts to make the H-bomb post WWII. He is, in a word, one of the most under-rated scientists of the current epoch.

   In the present book, he spends most of his pages paying homage to people who dedicated their lives to science over the centuries. Such venerable names as Nicolaus Copernicus, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Hideki Yukawa, Maria Sklodowska Curie, Hermann Weyl and others form the objects of Wheeler's praise. Much of the book is made up of snippets of terse speeches which Wheeler has made at various symposiums and celebrations during his lengthy sojourn at Princeton. For example, there is a brief poem which he wrote for Joseph Henry which is included, as well as an oration on the "colleagueship at Princeton" which he delivered in 1966.

   Interspersed throughout the book are essays which Wheeler has written on quantum mechanics, black holes, cosmology & the like. These are not the easiest pieces to read; I would suggest that readers browse through some preliminary books on QM before attempting to read Wheeler ("Taking The Quantum Leap" by Fred Alan Wolf might be a good place to start). The essays are well written & Wheeler uses some helpful analogies, but the going is still pretty rough. One of Wheeler's quotes which I really like (not from this book, though) is "If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day." One is sure to find many-a-strange scientific phenomenom in this book.

   This book lacks a central, cohesive theme & the order in which it was put together does not follow any specific chronology or format. However, I don't think this takes away from the book's superb picture of what one of the premiere scientists of the 20th century spends his days thinking about. There are several passages in which he compares and contrasts science with philosophy as well as with the pragmatism of everyday existence. I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in John Archibald Wheeler, physics, or the scientific community of Princeton university. Make yourself at home....

1 comments about Classical Mechanics: Point Particles and Relativity (Classical Theoretical Physics).

1. Simply stated, I don't consider this "the book" on the subject, but it is a most-have. It begins by developing some of the mathematical foundations needed to solve the problems; followed by some Newtonian mechanics (basic concepts: force, energy, motion in 1D-3D, and many examples and applications), and ends with special relativity. The topics are presented in a clear and straight-forward manner, although some of them were too simple and not as thorough as I wished.
   
   This book corresponds to a regular 1st semester in mechanics. It should be complemented with the second book (Classical Mechanics) which deals with non-inertial reference frames, systems of particles, rigid bodies, Lagrange equ. and Hamiltonian Theory.
   
   I give this book 4.5 stars (I'm a tough grader)